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Education spending in Canada as a percentage of GDP

Author of the article:

Janet Steffenhagen

Publishing date:

April 17, 2012 • 1 minute read

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The battle over public education always comes back to the question of money. The B.C. government says annual spending on public schools – about $4.7 billion – has been rising steadily despite declining enrolments; school boards and their employees say the increase has not been sufficient to cover new and inflationary costs.

Today, while I was a CBC guest on B.C. Almanac, host Mark Forsythe noted that education spending in this province has declined as a percentage of GDP. That sent me on a search for precise figures, which were provided by our PNG librarians.

Education spending in Canada as a percentage of GDPBack to video

According to a Statistics Canada report, B.C. spent 3.6 per cent of provincial GDP on education before the Liberals were elected in 2001. That was slightly above the Canadian average, as you can see here.

More recent statisticsshow that dropped to 3.3 per cent in 2009-10, slightly below the Canadian average.*

Board of education are now working on their 2012-13 budgets, and the debate in Victoria is worth watching. Trustees in the capital are divided over whether they should submit a balanced budget, as required by law, or refuse on the grounds that the government grants are inadequate.

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As Lindsay Kinesreported in the Times Colonist today, five board veterans say trustees have a responsibility to do the best with what they’ve got, while the four other members, who are or were teachers, disagree. Former Saanich trustee MaryLynne Rimer has also weighed in witha letter to the editor.

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